The Red Tractor assurance scheme has announced it will begin certifying duck meat, following the entrance of the first duck farm into the scheme. Gressingham has joined the red tractor assurance scheme, which certifies a variety of British meats.

David Clarke, CEO of Red Tractor announced on Friday (14th September), “We are delighted that Gressingham is using the Red Tractor logo to demonstrate their commitment to quality food and farming. This move will mean that consumers will be able to buy Red Tractor approved duck for the first time ever.”

Last month advertisements for Red Tractor were withdrawn after the Advertising Standards Authority deemed them to be misleading. The assurance scheme has frequently come under criticism for laying claim to higher welfare production, whilst only delivering the minimum legal standards in many cases. Animal welfare groups including, most recently, Compassion in World Farming have said this is misleading consumers.

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On Monday RSPCA sought to draw attention to prevalent animal welfare issues that exist within duck farming. The new Red Tractor scheme entrant Gressingham does not supply its ducks with bathing water RSPCA said; full body bathing water is not required by law, but does enable ducks to carry out their natural behaviours as waterfowl.

RSPCA farm animal welfare spokesperson Dr Marc Cooper said, “Ducks are waterfowl, they need bathing water, why else would they have webbed feet? Bathing water is good for ducks' health. It helps keep their eyes, nostrils and feathers clean. And in the same way that pigs like to root and chickens like to dust bathe, ducks like to have bathing water so they can do all the things ducks naturally do.”

By law, ducks can be reared in sheds with no windows, no bedding, and nothing more than a metal ball bearing-type water drinker. Whilst the industry offers its own Duck Assurance scheme standards, RSPCA said these still do not require ducks to have access to natural daylight or bathing water.

However, the British Poultry Council has reacted to the claims by stating its scheme does in fact have requirements for the provision of bathing water for ducks reared indoors. It said that, where drinking water is provided by ‘nipple drinkers,’ additional “open water” must be provided. RSPCA dismissed these claims, stating that troughs in which ducks can dip their heads and preen are inadequate and do not constitute bathing water.

The RSPCA highlighted its own Freedom Foods assurance scheme as one which provides extra welfare benefits to ducks, including bathing water, bedding and natural daylight. However, the animal welfare charity said that the proportion of ducks being reared to these standards dropped from about half of UK production in 2010 to about 30 per cent last year.

RSPCA said companies had downgraded welfare standards to join the Duck Assurance Scheme from its own welfare label, which it described as “A huge backwards step for the welfare of about 2 million ducks.” However, Compassion in World Farming investigations have identified serious shortcomings in RSPCA Freedom Foods’ standards in the past as well.

RSPCA spokesperson Eloise Shavelar said, “More ducks are being reared in the UK but sadly welfare appears to be getting worse. There are severe welfare problems for farmed duck because it's seen as a luxury product and therefore shoppers don't think it's intensively reared in a similar way to chicken. We've all grown up seeing ducks on ponds at the park and naturally assume farmed ducks must have bathing water too – incredibly, that is not the case.”

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